Toby Balding dies, aged 78

Clare Balding hailed a "brilliant trainer but an even better human being" after her uncle, Toby, died aged 78 on Thursday.

The renowned trainer, older brother of Classic-winning handler Ian Balding, won the Grand National with Highland Wedding in 1969 and Little Polveir in 1989 during a remarkable career over jumps and on the Flat.

He also won the Champion Hurdle with Beech Road in 1989 and Morley Street in 1991, as well as the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Cool Ground in 1992, making him one of very few trainers to have trained the winners of jumps racing's three biggest prizes.

Respected broadcaster Clare Balding tweeted on Friday morning: "It's been a long time since I cried myself to sleep but I did last night in memory of a warm-hearted, funny, generous man who saw the best in every person and every horse.

"Uncle Toby was a brilliant trainer but an even better human being. Everyone loved him."

The brother of Mill Reef's trainer Ian, and uncle of current leading trainer Andrew as well as Clare, Balding retired from the training ranks in 2004 having trained over 2000 winners.

Born in the United States in 1936, he was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2011 for services to horse racing.

Balding's daughter Serena Geake said: "He was a great man, who loved life, horses and people."

Eddie Harty snr rode Highland Wedding to Grand National glory and said Balding was "a colossus".

He said: "He brought confidence. He let you ride your own race.

"He was a very good schooler of horses - he schooled them quietly and let them learn their job. He loved his grandchildren and loved his family. He was a great human being.

"He was like my right arm - we were attached. We both loved the horses and both loved life. He was a colossus."

Reflecting upon Highland Wedding's National success, Harty told At The Races: "He never put a foot wrong, jumped with great confidence, always going within himself.

"When I jumped the last, he just sprinted for me. It was one of those magical moments."

One of the leading National Hunt riders throughout the 1990s was Adrian Maguire, who learned his trade under Balding's stewardship.

Maguire was then launched into the big time when winning the Gold Cup on Cool Ground.

"It's very sad news and it came as a shock to me," said Maguire.

"He was a real gentleman and was a father figure to me and my wife, Sabrina, when we first moved to the UK. We remained very close friends.

"I was only 20 when I won the Gold Cup on Cool Ground. I'd just ridden out my claim and was still eligible to ride in conditionals' races. He didn't have to give me the ride, but he did.

"He was a great man and was great with people.

"Everyone loved him and people didn't just want a horse with Toby Balding because he was a great trainer, they wanted a horse with him just to be involved with him.

"He did it all. Only the best trainers win the big races on the Flat and over jumps but he did it.

"You could talk all day about his achievements but, most importantly, he'll be remembered as a kind, generous man."

Graham Bradley was Balding's stable jockey for a couple of years and was associated with some of the trainer's star horses, including Kildimo and Morley Street.

"It's very sad. The last time I saw him was at Cheltenham in a private box there and he looked grand. We chatted away," he said.

"I was his stable jockey for a couple of years when I was retained by Philip Harris of Queensway Carpets and I used to drive down from Yorkshire and stay with him.

"We had a lot of fun together and won some big races.

"He was a wonderful man, a brilliant trainer and an even better talker!

"He could have been a politician or a diplomat if he hadn't been a trainer.

"He had some very good horses and it was a pleasure to work for him."

Jimmy Frost won the Grand National on Little Polvier and was associated with the yard through its golden spell.

"Toby always seemed to have a star but I was around when the likes of Morley Street, Little Polvier and Forest Sun were at their peak," said Frost.

"Morley Street was an incredibly bad bleeder so it took all of Toby's skills to help him fulfil his undoubted potential.

"There was one Easter Monday when a friend of mine told me to ring Toby for the ride on a horse and I said, 'Don't be stupid, Toby Balding won't give me a ride'.

"But I rang him anyway and we talked on the phone as if I had known him all my life.

"That horse didn't run, but Toby told me to ring him again and it started from there.

"Little Polvier was a story all of its own. He was bought by his owners to run in the Grand Military Gold Cup, which he did, and it was an afterthought to run him in the National, really.

"It was a golden era - not just for horses but jockeys, too. Adrian Maguire was there and I rode out with AP McCoy before I left.

"The numbers of trainers that worked there was striking, too, David Elsworth for one.

"Toby could warm up an Eskimo hut, he made everyone feel welcome.

"In later years Toby was like a statue, always behind you pointing you in the right direction. He was a great mentor.

"The last time I saw him was in July when a horse (Rusty Nail) for our racing club, of which he was involved, won at Newton Abbot.

"I'd told him I thought Rusty Nail would go well and I couldn't believe it when I saw him in the paddock.

"He cheered him home louder than anyone, and this is from a man who had won the biggest races in the game."

Balding was also instrumental in shaping the early years of McCoy in the saddle, as he was the with the likes of Adrian Maguire.

McCoy tweeted: "Tonight I cried when I heard the news my old boss and friend Toby Balding had died, we had great times together.

"He was my ultimate mentor. RIP."